Bill Shankly
William "Bill" Shankly (born 2 September 1913 – died 29 September 1981) is a former Liverpool manager. He served as manager from 1959 and 1974; winning the league championships three times, the FA Cup twice and the UEFA Cup once in this period. Liverpool Career Shankly was made manager of Liverpool in December of 1959. At the time, due to a decline in the 1950's, Liverpool were competing in the second division. This was due to poor facilities and sub par players currently with the club. During his first year Shankly dismissed 24 of these players. Shankly instituted a number of changes at Liverpool that are still used today. He started bus rides to Melwood to encourage player camaraderie. Now players would spend most of their time with each other to form more bonds off the pitch to help on the pitch. He introduced fittness training and diet assessment to keep players fit. After practice he would have players bussed back to Anfield to shower and eat a meal together. This helped the players warm down so less training injuries happened. Shankly's new regime and agenda helped clinch promotion to the first division in 1961-62 with help from signing such as Ron Yeats and Ian St. John. The following year, their first back in the first division he took Liverpool to eighth place. In the 1963-64 season, just two years from their spell in the second division, Shankly won Liverpool their sixth top flight trophy. In the 1964-65 season, Shankly led Liverpool to win their first ever FA Cup in a 2-1 victory over Leeds United at Wembley. The next season he led them to win the league title for the second time, Liverpool's seventh. The early 70's brought about a transitional period in Liverpool's results and squad. Players leaving due to age opened up spots in the squad for Shankly to fill. During this time he brought in other Liverpool greats such as Kevin Keegan, Emlyn Hughes, and Ray Clemence. In the 1972-73 season Shankly brought Liverpool to their eighth league title, his third and final. The same year Shankly took Liverpool to win their first ever European cup against Borussia Moenchengladbach. Shankly helped Liverpool win their final piece of silver wear by ousting Newcastle United in the FA cup during the 1973-74 season. It was Shankly's second to last game in charge of the club, and Liverpool's second FA cup. The final match was a league match at White Hart Lane on 8th May in front of only 24,000 fans. On 12 July 1974, at the age of 60, Shankly retired from Liverpool. The club's new position was given to Bob Paisley, a former Liverpool legend who had been a part of Shankly's staff. Honours Liverpool *First Division: 3 (1963–64, 1965–66, 1972–73) *Second Division: 1 (1961–62) *FA Cup: 2 (1965, 1974) *UEFA Cup: 1 (1973) *Charity Shield: 2 (1966, 1974) **Shared: 2 (1964, 1965) Individual *English Manager of The Year: 1973 Stats See also *Bill Shankly/Transfers External links *Bill Shankly's managerial stats at Soccerbase. Shankly